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February 01, 2013 | Europe Eurasia: Norway

Snowshoeing provided the motivation for a new lifestyle

By Elin Kjølseth

Henrik Jostad used to be inactive. He did not do any sports, just watched TV in his free time.
That changed two years ago: He found a Snowshoeing team and started walking on Snowshoes. After a few months of encouragement from team members and coaches - and the prospect of the Special Olympics World Games - he decided to get serious. "My father was at our practice, and I thought I would just try it and started running. My father got so excited, he was jumping up and down," Henrik says, laughing at the memory of his excited father - it was the first time in many years he had seen him run. Since then he hasn’t missed a practice.
Henrik has also changed his whole lifestyle. The team visited a nutrition school, and Henrik learned which habits he should change. Now he rarely eats candy and fast food, and drinks water, not soda - except for every other weekend, birthdays and holidays. The effect is very visible - his old pants fit again. His family and coaches are very proud of his changes.